CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF FEEDING STUFFS 61 
obtained in the cases where silage was made. in pits in the ground 
or in open stacks. In modern tall, round silos the losses of dry 
matter have been greatly reduced, and under ordinary favorable 
conditions will not amount to more than ten per cent. As in the 
case of field-curing of corn, this loss falls primarily on the carbo- 
hydrates and the protein substances, changing these in part into 
organic acids and amides, respectively, so that the resulting silage 
is higher in fiber and lower in nitrogen-free extract than the ma- 
terial from which it was made. The following average analyses 
of green fodder corn and corn silage will illustrate this fact: 
Average Composition of Green Fodder Corn and Corn Silage, in Per Cent 
, ys Nitrogen- | © 
Dry : 7 
riatter Ash Protein . Fiber : oe : Fat 
Green corn fodder.; 79.3 1.2 1.8 5.0. | 12.2 mi) 
Corn silage....... 79.1 1.4 17 6.0 11.0 8 
There is a slight decrease in the percentage of protein in: ‘silage 
as compared with fodder corn, but there is a further change in the 
protein compounds during the siloing process which does not appear 
from the average analyses given. Through the action of enzymes 
and bacteria, a portion of the protein of the fodder corn undergoes 
cleavage in the silo, and silage, therefore, contains a considerably 
larger proportion of non-albuminoid or amide nitrogen than the 
green corn (p. 11). ‘The latter has been found to contain, on the 
average, 27 per cent of amide nitrogen, against 40 per cent or over 
in silage. 
Effect of Storage.—Changes in the chemical composition occur 
in many feeding stuffs in storage. These are often quantitatively 
too slight to appear in statements of chemical aes but still 
are of considerable importance, as, e.g., in the case of new and old 
oats, corn, hay, etc. These and many other feeds lose moisture on 
being stored; changes also occur in the composition of the dry 
matter, which are not yet clearly understood in many cases. New 
oats thus readily cause digestive disorders, such as colic, when fed 
to horses, and it cannot be supposed that the difficulty arises merely 
from the fact that such oats contain, say 10 per cent more moisture 
than old oats. In all probability the enzymes present in the oats, 
of which three different ones have been identified, cause certain 
changes in the composition of the dry matter during storage; 
although not measurable by the ordinary methods adopted in feed 
